The season officially begins in 10 days. Today I will continue ranking the Pac-10 as well as previewing how the Colorado and Utah seasons should pan out.
9. Arizona State
The Sun Devils ended the 2009 season with a 4-8 record and 2-7 in the Pac 10 which was good enough for 9th. I expect more of the same from a team that presented a mediocre offensive attack last year. The defense is strong and will continue to be strong, but ASU needs to score points to be able to win games in an Offense oriented conference.
Biggest question mark this season is QB (not a position that can easily be over looked). It appears that Steven Threet will win the job. Threet started his career at Michigan with an unimpressive freshmen year that left him on the outside of a QB carousel. I'm not one to believe a QB can change dramatically over a red shirt season because all of his reps last year were geared toward replicating other offenses. If Threet can get into a rhythm, he has the potential to operate as a point guard for this offense. Watch for him to put up numbers in the first two week in preparation for Wisconsin.
Arizona State appears to think that they are an SEC power with their yearly OOC slots consistently filled with two-thirds FCS and one part real football. This year the Sun Devils go to Wisconsin to face a Defensive/Run Oriented Big 10 team. ASU will enter their Pac 10 opener with 1 loss against Oregon @home. They will need to be able to compete with Oregon better than they have in previous years, or this will be just the beginning of a deadly stretch in the Pac. After going to Wisconsin and playing Oregon at home, the Devils go on the road for 3 games at Oregon St, Washington, and Cal. Five consecutive losses (as I expect) means the end to another sub par season for Dennis Erickson. They will beat WSU before entering another stretch that appears to offers two opportunities for victory at home with Stanford and UCLA. I can see ASU winning 1 of these 2 games, but ASU football is on it's way up.
Final prediction: 4-8 (2-7)
Homer Prediction: 7-5 (4-5)
9. Arizona State
10. Washington State
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